Cast Brass Double Inkstand

Description

• Overall Form: An elegant, footed Art Nouveau double inkstand crafted from cast brass. The cast metal frame features two square apertures designed to securely hold a pair of removable glass inkwells, separated by a decorative central openwork column.
• Ornamentation & Stylistic Details: The stand features quintessential Art Nouveau styling, showcasing low-relief, sweeping whiplash curves, fluid organic lines, and stylized foliate patterns. The side handles could serve as a pen rest.
• Inkwells & Lids: The set includes two heavy, clear-glass inkwells molded with a deep, diagonal swirl or ribbed pattern along the square side walls. The inkwells are topped with matching circular brass lids. Each lid features an embossed, multi-armed spiral or whirlwind pattern radiating from a central star motif, mirroring the movement of the frame. These are unhinged, lift-off slip caps designed to sit snugly over the glass necks.
• Markings: The underside divider of the frame features a crisp, raised, cast-in four-digit inventory number: 4455.

Maker Identification

The specific style of the stand-alone four-digit number 4455 cast into the underside attributes this piece to the H.L. Judd Manufacturing Company of Wallingford, Connecticut (with corporate showrooms in New York City).

While contemporary American metal foundries like Bradley & Hubbard or Jennings Brothers frequently included company initials, logos, or full name stamps alongside their inventory numbers, H.L. Judd regularly identified their decorative wares solely by a crisp, raised model number on the reverse casting. In Judd’s “Art Metal Goods” trade catalogs, the 44XX series was dedicated exclusively to their fine cast brass, bronze, and plated desk appointments (such as their well-known Aesthetic Movement owl inkwell, which bears the model number 4411).

Date of Manufacture

• Circa 1895–1905
• Production Context: H.L. Judd began expanding its line of decorative desk suites and fancy hardware in the late 1880s. However, the mature, elongated whiplash curves and organic asymmetry of this frame represent the peak period of the Art Nouveau movement in American decorative arts, placing its manufacture right at the turn of the 20th century.